Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov were on Sunday night united in their
resistance to a record £1.5 billion takeover of Arsenal by a Middle
East-based consortium that has vowed to “transform” the club’s dwindling
fortunes.

Not selling: Alisher Usmanov was at White Hart Lane on SundayPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

Kroenke and Usmanov, who have wrestled for control of Arsenal for almost five years, both made it clear they had no intention of selling their respective 66.83 per cent and 29.96 per cent stakes. That is despite the prospect of a huge windfall on the amount each paid for their shares, with Arsenal valued at £731 million when Kroenke became majority shareholder in 2011.

A £1.5 billion takeover by a group backed by funds from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates would be a world record for a football club, dwarfing the £800 million the Glazers paid for Manchester United eight years ago.

The group involved do not want their identities made public yet but have requested a meeting with Kroenke – caricatured by some fans as ‘Silent Stan’ due to his low profile – to discuss the proposed offer, which would net the American billionaire a profit of around £400m.

However, Arsenal communications director Mark Gonnella said on Sunday: “Stan Kroenke is committed to Arsenal for the long term and has no intention of selling his stake. There has been no contact from any potential investors.”

Gonnella added that Kroenke, who also owns the St Louis Rams in the National Football League, had never sold any of his sports investments. A spokesman for Usmanov also insisted the Uzbek-born­businessman, who has made no secret of his desire to take control of Arsenal himself, also had no interest in selling his stake.

The Middle East consortium is planning an offer for 100 per cent of the club but believes it will be able to work with the billionaire, who does not currently have a seat on the board and who has been frustrated in his attempts to get more involved.

News of a proposed takeover bid came as Arsenal prepared for arguably one of the most important north London derbies since Arsène Wenger became manager 16½ years ago.

Arsenal are facing the prospect of finishing outside the Premier League top four for the first time in the Wenger era and the consortium tapped into fears that the club had been caught in a cycle of decline since they last won a trophy in 2005.

Wenger said on Sunday that he did not know anything about the proposed bid and rejected the idea that missing out on the top four would make his side vulnerable to a takeover. “You are only vulnerable if you want to sell and you need money,” he said. “That doesn’t concern me at all; that’s down to the owners. Are they interested to sell or not I don’t know at all. If people are ready to invest their money it means the club is not ­moving too much in a bad ­direction.”

The proposed takeover would wipe out Arsenal’s £250 million debt at a stroke, while a bid source told Telegraph Sport funds would be made available “to transform the club into a major force in European and world football”.

The source added: “Arsenal is at a pivotal position at the moment. The fear is that the club is facing a cycle of decline, like Liverpool. From our point of view, it is the perfect moment to make this bid because at this moment in time you can still genuinely justify this extraordinary valuation on the club. We will not bid for Arsenal if they go into decline. Kroenke and Usmanov will not get this kind of valuation if Arsenal do not succeed.”

A pledge to reduce ticket prices at the Emirates Stadium, currently among the highest in the world, is also planned, as well as an attempt to recreate “some of the feel of the old North Bank” at Highbury.

Any takeover would inevitably raise questions over the future of Wenger, although the Frenchman is understood to be highly regarded by the consortium. They do not want to lose his football knowledge and want him to remain at the club. But the source added: “No big club can go eight years without winning anything. No manager of a big club, not even Sir Alex Ferguson, would have survived eight years without winning.”